~Yukio's POV~

After the argument I had with Nii-Chan, I felt more anxious than before it. I had wanted it to be a normal conversation to clear it up. Dammit, why can't he just realize he can come to me if he needs help or feels unsure about something! He's my brother, and whether he likes it or not, I'm stuck with him for life.

I decided to wash my face to clear my thoughts, and as I neared the bathroom, I heard Nii-Chan talking to what seemed like himself.

"Little does he know~' His voice echoed quietly in the hall, not going past the closed doors.

Little does he know? Does he mean me?

"Kurosune..? You haven't spoken in ages…"

Kurosune? As in, Black Fox? Who is this person that my brother seems to be talking to?

"Heh, busy with what?" I could hear false amusement in his voice but he didn't sound upset.

"I don't know, Kurosune, I don't know…" He sighed. There was a slight pause.

"It doesn't hurt a lot, Kurosine… It's not bad, I promise… It doesn't hurt bad."

After a few moments I could hear my brother humming some strange tune that I had never heard before. As he hummed, I could hear the faucet turn on and off, and the doorknob turned.

I quickly hid in the next room over, careful to keep my footsteps light.

He didn't seem to notice that anyone had been there, and simply walked back to our room. As he turned the corner, I peeked out from behind the door, staring at his back for a moment.

"Who is this Kurosune?" I thought quietly, then realizing I had been in the room before he left, and I quickly rushed off, taking a different route.

Luckily, I had just gotten under the covers when he walked in, rubbing his head. He looked at me for several minutes, when he suddenly spoke.

"Don't worry, Yukio… I won't be around much longer to be a problem…" He whispered, his voice wavering. I could hear his attempts at holding back tears. He didn't cry, but it was easy to tell he was trying not to, before he sighed and got into his own bed, falling asleep almost as soon as he did.

Once he fell asleep, I opened my eyes and turned around, hardly able to make him out without my glasses, but I could see his mop of darkly colored hair.

"Nii-Chan…" I sighed, staring at him. "Is that really who you think you are to me..?" I whispered, wondering what was going through my brother's head, wondering if I'd be able to find out.

"And what does he mean 'I won't be around much longer'?" I mumbled, staring at him blankly. "Nii-Chan, whatever is going on… I'm determined to find out." I whispered, before going to sleep myself, finding myself relieved as I had lain down, falling asleep just as quickly as my Nii-Chan had.

The following day flew by. Nii-Chan wasn't home again, but came home for dinner this time, but left again afterwards and came home at 2 in the morning, this time.

I watched him as he quietly entered the room. I could see the bags under his eyes, and I could tell he was tired just by looking at how he held himself. He looked like a corpse, and he hardly made it to the bed.

"Nii-Chan." I said sternly, and he turned his head in his bed to look at me.

"It's 2 in the morning, what've you been doing to come home at this unholy hour?" I whispered, as I was still tired myself.

"Doing' stuff…" He mumbled, adjusting himself into a slightly more comfortable position.

"What stuff that you come home at 2 in the morning? I thought midnight was bad, but now?! What have you been up to?!"

Nii-Chan yawned. "Well, see, I decided to talk another walk today…" He yawned again before mumbling something, his eyelids drooping.

"And?" He suddenly sparked a little more awake, sitting up as to keep himself from falling asleep.

"See, I was tired… so I sat on a bench at one of the parks… And I think I passed out on the bench… It was around an hour ago when I woke up… And since it was the far side of town n' I couldn't focus so I couldn't remember the route… so I had to find another route while not passing out…"

"Tired from training or tired from coming home at midnight." I said it as more as a statement instead of a question.

"Mmm.." He mumbled, his eyes so close to shutting that unless you looked closely you couldn't tell that he wasn't sleeping.

"Nii-Chan."

"Hmm-wha-?" He mumbled, snapping a little more awake.

"Are you tired from training or tired from coming home in the middle of the night and getting up early."

"Mmmm… Training… She really pushed me hard regardless of the fact that I was tired…"

"And you were tired because you came home at midnight and got up earlier than I did, which, I get up at 6:30, and was out of the dorm before I even got out of bed."

"Heh… are you using this as an opportunity to trick me, since I'm so tired?"

I shrugged. "Well, tomorrow we have school, so I don't know how you'll survive it…" When I heard no reply, I got slightly worried, and looked up to see Nii-Chan's eyes closed and his chest rising and falling steadily.

"Goodnight, Nii-Chan." I had lain down and fell asleep, but not before remembering the conversation I had with Mephisto a few days prior.

The next month flew by. Nothing really happened. Nii-Chan still came home late, though, and that got me slightly worried. He fell asleep in class more often, sometimes not showing up.

Finally, Bon had enough. "Where is that stupid monkey?!" He suddenly asked. I had a feeling the question was directed at me.

Almost as soon as the question was asked, most of the students' gazes fell on me.

"I haven't seen Rin-san in a little while, either…" Shiemi mumbled, staring at the seat my brother would normally sit in.

"Yeah, now that I think about it. Where is he?" Izumo asked, still stone-faced.

Konekomaru mumbled something about something being better, but nobody really paid attention.

"Well, see-"

Konekomaru suddenly cut me off. "Why-Why should we care?"

There were a few agreeing faces, and the rest were neutral.

"I mean, now that the son of Satan isn't around much anymore, aren't we safer?" He mumbled.

I sighed, slightly annoyed. "He's been coming home at around 2 in the morning for the last month."

Some of their eyes widened, some of their mouths dropped, some still remained neutral.

"Wh-what do you mean he's coming home at 2 in the morning?" Konekomaru whispered.

"I mean he comes into our room at 2 in the morning looking exhausted. Anyway, back to the lesson, we are only a few minutes in-"

The door suddenly opened, and Rin stood there, looking around blankly.

His eyes seemed a little empty, as if he wasn't really there.

As if he were slowly dying.